Leroy Zerlang and his brothers have been sating the appetites
of Eurekans since 1992
Larry Zerlang adds crabs to the boilers, which contains "Nothing
but water and salt."
Crab traps: Crustaceans check in, but they don't check out

EUREKA,
CALIFORNIA

If you ask
people across North America what December first means, chances are they'll
say something like, "Time to put up holiday lights," or "Shopping!"
But the inhabitants of California's north coast have something else to
anticipate when the turkeys of Thanksgiving have flown. December first
is when crab season opens, a fact that would have eluded us entirely had
we not parked in a vacant lot at the corner where ‘C' Street meets the
waterfront.

It was a
chilly, windy day, but even rain showers had not dampened the obvious
enthusiasm of a crowd of people huddled in line

at a small booth
near the dock. Steam was rising from two large barrels, and as we drew closer,
we found we'd discovered the Crab Shack. Behind the counter, three burly
men were distributing boiled Dungeness crab to eager purchasers.

The Zerlang
brothers, Larry, Leroy and Don, have been running the Crab Shack since
1992, and they're the fifth generation of Zerlangs to be in the crab business.
They get their wares right off the boats when they return from their daily
forays to their traps just beyond the breakwater in Humboldt Bay.

"Crab
season opens December 1," said Larry, "And it runs until spring.
When it's over, the Crab Shack turns into the Tuna Shack."

A sign suggested
making reservations for Christmas, and when I asked if that was the most
popular day for crab, Larry replied, "It's popular, all right, and
so is New Year's. But the biggest day ever is when the Forty-niners play
in the Super Bowl. You gotta have crab for that. We're big Forty-niners
fans around here."

Since there
were no crab boats at the dock, Larry suggested we might drive out along
the bay and see them as they headed north. "But stay back from the
sand if the waves are breaking over the jetty," he added. "It
can be rough out there."

"Oh,
and by the way," Larry added smiling, "You can take pictures
only if you buy a crab."

We departed
with a healthy specimen neatly encased in a plastic bag. We did indeed
drive to a spot where, amid a driving rainstorm, we could see the crab
boats forging through the angry surf. Crabbers are a hardy lot, the western
equivalent of Maine lobstermen.

I've never
had crab that tasted better than that one, which— lacking a nutcracker—
we attacked with pliers that night and ate with melted butter and bread.

Crabbers returning from a cold day on the water

The
best way to get crab at the Crab Shack is to walk up and point to the
ones you want. But if you can't make it to "the bottom of ‘C' Street"
in Eureka, you're in luck. The Crab Shack takes orders by telephone. Want
a special treat for the holidays? Fresh north coast Dungeness crab is
awfully hard to beat.